Samsung NX10 digital camera (preview)

CES 2010: Samsung takes aim at the DSLR and Micro Four-Thirds camera markets with the NX10

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Samsung is the first company out of the gate with a major camera announcement at CES 2010, unveiling the first model in its NX series. The company teased the NX series at PMA 2009 early last year, but the NX10 is the first real-world NX series offering.

Pros

  • Interchangeable lenses, AMOLED screen, K-Mount adapter

Cons

  • No release date for Australia yet

Bottom Line

The Samsung NX10 is an interchangeable-lens model that's slightly less bulky than a DSLR, offering a 14.6-megapixel APS-C-size CMOS sensor that's significantly larger than the sensors found in Micro Four-Thirds system cameras from Panasonic and Olympus.

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The Samsung NX10 is an interchangeable-lens model that's slightly less bulky than a DSLR, offering a 14.6-megapixel APS-C sized CMOS sensor that's significantly larger than the sensors found in Micro Four-Thirds system cameras from Panasonic and Olympus. The NX10 has the ability to shoot 720p HD video as MPEG-4 files at 30 frames per second.

Like the Micro Four-Thirds system cameras released last year by Panasonic and Olympus, Samsung's NX cameras eliminate the mirror box found in the body of traditional DSLR cameras. This allows the NX10 to have a more compact frame than a DSLR while still retaining the capability to swap lenses; the NX10 clocks in at 4.8 inches wide, 3.4 inches high, and 1.6 inches deep, and it weighs 0.78 pounds without the lens.

The compact body comes at the expense of the through-the-lens optical viewfinder found in traditional DSLRs. Instead, users will use either the NX10's 3-inch-diagonal AMOLED screen to compose shots, or the eye-level electronic viewfinder.

During some brief hands-on time with the camera, the NX10's AMOLED screen looked bright and sharp, while the eye-level EVF has a proximity sensor that automatically turns off the LCD and powers on the EVF once you put your eye to it. The camera's physical size is about in line with the first Micro Four-Thirds offerings from Panasonic (the Lumix DMC-G1 and Lumix DMC-GH1).

Samsung also announced three lenses for the new NX series cameras: an 18mm-55mm optically stabilised lens (which is the NX10's kit lens), a 50mm-200mm stabilized lens, and a 30mm prime lens. Users will need to buy stabilised lenses to get optically stabilized shots, as the NX10 does not have body-based stabilisation.

The lens mount on the NX10 is a proprietary NX mount, but Samsung will also sell a K-Mount adapter to allow compatibility with legacy Pentax K-Mount lenses.

Other key specs include a pop-up flash on top of the camera, a HDMI port for playing back videos on an HDTV screen, and a supersonic dust-removal system for the APS-C sensor. Samsung is also touting the camera's autofocus speed, which it says is a key benefit of its DRIMe II Pro imaging engine.

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